Voter ID

Photo ID now required for voting in Texas

June 25, 2013Contact: Alicia Pierce
512/ 463-5770

AUSTIN, TX – Texas Secretary of State John Steen today announced that photo identification will now be required when voting in Texas elections. His announcement follows a decision Tuesday by the U.S. Supreme Court that cleared the way for photo ID requirements in Texas, originally passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011, to take effect.

“My office is committed to making sure Texans have all the information they need to vote, including what forms of identification they need now that photo ID requirements are in effect,” said Secretary Steen.

A voter will be required to show one of the following forms of photo identification at the polling location before the voter will be permitted to cast a vote:

Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)

Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS

Texas personal identification card issued by DPS

Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS

United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph

United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph

United States passport

With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented at the polling place.

Election identification certificates are now available only for voters who do not already have a required form of photo identification. There is no fee for the certificate. Information on how to obtain an election identification certificate can be found at www.dps.texas.gov. You may also contact DPS by telephone at (512) 424-2600.

Photo Identification is currently in litigation.
Updates to the status of enforceability can be found at txredistricting.org.

On offering to vote, a voter must present to an election officer at the polling place one form of identification.

Driver’s license

Election identification certificate

Dept. of Public Safety personal ID card

U.S. military ID

U.S. citizenship certificate

U.S. passport

License to carry a concealed handgun issued by the Dept. of Public Safety

All of the above must include a photo of the voter. With the exception of the certificate of citizenship, these forms of ID cannot be expired, or cannot have expired more than 60 days before the election.

A voter who fails to present the required identification may cast a provisional ballot. The voter must present, not later than the sixth day after the date of the election, the required form of identification to the voter registrar for examination OR the voter may execute, in the presence of the voter registrar, an affidavit under penalty of perjury stating that the voter has a religious objection to being photographed or that the voter does not have identification as a result of a natural disaster declared by the president or the governor which occurred not earlier than 45 days before the date the ballot was cast.